SUMMARY OF THE REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
ACTION TEAM CO-CHAIRS CONFERENCE CALL

September 29, 1998
3:00 p.m.­4:30 p.m. (EDT)

On Tuesday, September 29, 1998, Walter Kovalick, co-chair of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum (RTDF), met with co-chairs from six of the seven RTDF Action Teams in a conference call. The following co-chairs were present:

Dick Jensen, DuPont (Sediments Remediation Action Team)
Dave Ellis, DuPont (Bioremediation Consortium)
Bill Berti, DuPont (IINERT Soil-Metals Action Team)
James Ryan, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (IINERT Soil-Metals Action Team)
Lynn Wood, EPA (In Situ Flushing Action Team)
Mason Hughes, Monsanto (Lasagna™ Partnership)
Bob Puls, EPA (Permeable Reactive Barriers [PRB] Action Team)
John Vidumsky, DuPont (PRB Action Team)

Also present were Dawn Carroll, Kelly Madalinski, Mike Kosakowski, and Richard Steimle from EPA's Technology Innovation Office (TIO); Stephen Schmelling and Clint Hall from EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory; Carolyn Perroni of Environmental Management Support, Inc. (EMS); and Susan Brager Murphy and Christine Hartnett of Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG). Co-chairs from the Phytoremediation of Organics Action Team could not participate.

UPDATE ON ACTION TEAM ACTIVITIES

Sediments Remediation Action Team

Dick Jensen, a co-chair for the Sediments Remediation Action Team, said that his Team met for the first time in two years in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 16 and 17, 1998. Jensen reported that the meeting was well attended (more than 40 participants) and had a good balance between government and industrial participants. Jensen praised the meeting's speakers, noting that many spoke of similar projects. Jensen said a couple of groups (e.g., an industrial group) share the same project objectives as EPA. Jensen reported that breakout sessions were held for (1) assessment of sediments and (2) treatment of sediments. The discussions for the latter, Jensen continued, included a discussion on capping treatments. He noted that a separate breakout session would have been devoted solely to capping if representatives of the Waterways Experiment Station had been able to attend the meeting.

At the meeting, Jensen continued, Alcoa said they might have a site along the Grass River that could serve as a Sediments Remediation Action Team field site. Jensen expressed great enthusiasm about this possibility and noted that he has heard that ALCOA's site might be used for EPA's demonstration program as well. Jensen said he did not have much information about EPA's demonstration program, except that the plan is to demonstrate various technologies (e.g., dredging, natural recovery, capping) at five different sites with contaminated sediments.

Jensen said that the meeting was a success and he thanked EMS and ERG for their support. He said several follow-up meetings are tentatively planned:

• Conference call. Jensen said that the Assessment of Sediments Subgroup will meet via a conference call on October 15, 1998.
• Innovative capping technology demonstration. Jensen noted that an innovative capping technology demonstration is being held in Toledo, Ohio, in October 1998. He said that a Great Lakes Group member is checking to see if RTDF Action Team members can attend.
• East coast meeting. Jensen said the entire Action Team hopes to meet on the east coast in January 1999. He said that Wilmington, Delaware, and Washington, D.C., have been suggested as possible meeting locations.
• Battelle conference. Jensen said that a Battelle representative was present at the RTDF Action Team meeting and exhibited significant interest in the Team's work. Jensen said the representative informally invited the RTDF Action Team to attend Battelle's April 1998 meeting and indicated that part of the conference will be dedicated to sediment issues.

Walter Kovalick noted that TIO's Kelly Madalinski attended the meeting and had reported that several Action Team members were interested in generating output, such as a bibliography or a field study, over the next 6 months. Jensen said the group will discuss their future activities at greater length during the upcoming meetings.

Kovalick said that TIO has contacted the Association of Ports and Harbors and the U.S. Department of Commerce in the past. He offered to follow-up again with these contacts now that there is reborn interest in the Sediments Remediation Action Team. Jensen said the Team would be very interested in working with both groups.

Bioremediation Consortium

Dave Ellis, a co-chair for the Bioremediation Consortium, provided a brief activity update for the three bioremediation technologies under development:

• Cometabolic bioventing. Ellis said data are still being collected at the Dover Air Force Base (AFB) pilot project. At Hill AFB, Ellis continued, a contractor has been hired and a test system should be operational soon. Ellis said that Greg Sayles (the other Bioremediation Consortium co-chair) needs at least two more soils to test for cometabolic bioventing treatment protocol development. Ellis said that Sayles needs soils from sites that have chlorinated solvents in unsaturated soils. Ellis also said that a model is being developed to assist with cometabolic design. This model, he said, is progressing nicely and is being developed by Canadian contractors.
• Accelerated anaerobic biodegradation. Ellis said that a test project at Dover AFB was concluded on March 31, 1998. He said the project was very successful and resulted in 100 percent conversion of trichloroethylene (TCE) to ethene (a non-toxic product). Given this success, Ellis continued, Dover AFB representatives have decided to use accelerated anaerobic biodegradation to remediate high-concentration areas within their contaminant plume. Ellis said the Consortium has been working toward scaling up the technology at Dover AFB since March 31, 1998. To date, testing has focused on (1) minimizing carbon input, (2) developing better approaches to control well fouling, and (3) making sure a once-through treatment is sufficient. In addition, Ellis continued, the Consortium wants to extract and relocate some water so that they can analyze remedial capabilities at higher concentrations. Although EPA has granted approval for this activity, the State of Delaware has not as of yet. Ellis said that funding may expire before this part of scale-up testing can be accomplished. Ellis said the Consortium will extend their work beyond Dover AFB and will initiate a Phase II accelerated anaerobic project as soon as an appropriate site is chosen.
• Natural attenuation. Ellis said the Dover AFB natural attenuation project will be completed in November 1998. He noted that 5 years of continuous data have been collected and that the data indicate that the plume has not moved and that contaminant concentrations have decreased by about half. Given this success, Ellis continued, natural attenuation has been listed as a remedial approach in the interim Record of Decision (ROD) for Dover AFB.

Ellis said that Kelly AFB, a site with very high contaminant concentrations, has been selected as a Phase II study site. The Consortium's goal, Ellis said, will be to determine how bacteria survive and successfully degrade contaminants at such high solvent concentrations. Ellis said the Consortium hopes to find another highly contaminated test site to evaluate as part of their Phase II program. Finding a site, he said, has been difficult since rapid source removal is so often initiated.

Ellis said the Consortium is working rapidly to finish their projects before their Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) expire and the Consortium terminates. He said the Consortium is developing a publication strategy. He said Environmental Science and Technology has already accepted one of the Consortium's papers and has agreed to publish another once it undergoes appropriate peer review. Ellis said the Consortium has also been working toward finding ways to put full data packages into the public record. Some consideration, he said, has been given to using the National Technical Information Service.

Although the CRADAs that establish the Consortium are scheduled to terminate in 2000, Ellis said that some off-the-record discussions have been held to find ways to continue the positive interactions that have been established between government agencies and industrial members.

Kovalick noted that Steve Schmelling will be taking a more active role in the Bioremediation Consortium in the near future.

IINERT Soil-Metals Action Team

James Ryan, a co-chair for the IINERT Soil-Metals Action Team, said his group has been collecting data for over a year at the Joplin site. He said team members are planning to meet on October 7 and 8, 1998, to discuss the data in detail. Preliminary swine dosing results, Ryan reported, indicate that IINERT technologies reduce the biological availability of lead.

Ryan said that none of the Joplin data have been published. He did note, however, that Action Team members have published several individual papers on the work they have done on bioavailability transformations and chemical reactions of lead in soil systems.

Kovalick said he attended the Fourth International Symposium on Environmental Contamination in Central and Eastern Europe. At the conference, Kovalick reported, about 14 or 15 papers addressed plant uptake of metals and land recovery and reuse through vegetation. Kovalick said he would forward abstracts to Ryan and Bill Berti.

In Situ Flushing Action Team

Lynn Wood, a co-chair for the In Situ Flushing Action Team, noted that his team has decided to address the regulatory and technical impediments that oppose development of in situ flushing technology. His team, Wood continued, has formed three Subgroups to address these issues: (1) Economic Assessment and Remedial Agent Recovery/Reuse, (2) Endpoint Assessment/Technical Performance Criteria, and (3) Technical Practices/Protocol.

Wood said the third In Situ Flushing Action Team meeting was held in mid-September. He said the meeting was successful because it:

• Allowed Subgroups to reconvene. Wood said that the Subgroups identified their goals and objectives for the next year and talked about documents that they want to publish. As an example of the progress made, Wood said that the Endpoint Assessment/Technical Performance Criteria Subgroup has started drafting a letter that asks for regulatory input on appropriate endpoints. Richard Steimle asked Wood whether he expects the Subgroups to have drafts by the next In Situ Flushing Action Team meeting. Wood said it was possible, but would probably vary between the Subgroups. Wood said that the Subgroups had not been able to make much progress between their second (January 1998) and third meetings (September 1998), but said that he is hoping that more will be accomplished between the third and fourth meetings. Steimle asked if TIO could help facilitate the process. Wood said he may ask for contractual support to establish a protected Web site and to finalize Subgroup documents.
• Provided information about natural attenuation. Wood noted that in situ flushing technologies are likely to remove the bulk of contamination at a source zone, but will leave behind residual contaminants. Much interest has been expressed, Wood noted, in identifying technologies that can follow up flushing technology as part of a treatment train. For this reason, Wood continued, Ellis was asked to speak about natural attenuation at the meeting. Kovalick praised the Team for trying to identify treatment trains. He said this concept is very interesting to TIO.
• Provided information about the Interstate Technology Regulatory Cooperation (ITRC). Wood said the Action Team wants to establish a linkage with the ITRC. He said that Stephen Shoemaker (the other In Situ Action Team co-chair) will make a presentation at ITRC's November 1998, meeting in San Diego, California. Wood said that Shoemaker will ask about the possibility of having the ITRC establish an in situ flushing technology working group.

Lasagna™ Partnership

Mason Hughes, a co-chair for the Lasagna™ Partnership, said Monsanto has completed both phases of their study. Hughes said that results, which are presented on the RTDF Web site, indicated that the Lasagna™ technology is effective. Hughes said that this technology has been chosen as a remedial technology in the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant ROD and that cleanup at this site is scheduled to begin in Spring 1999. Hughes said the Camp Dresser & McKee federal programs will be the first Lasagna™ licensee and that Monsanto is willing to let any company use Lasagna™ for a nominal fee.

Hughes said that Monsanto's role in researching the technology has been completed and that he and others plan to focus their efforts into other areas in the future. He said participating in the RTDF was a great experience, but doubted that Monsanto will try to extend their RTDF Partnership once their current agreement expires. Kovalick asked whether the RTDF reports sufficiently capture (1) the technical aspects of Lasagna™, and (2) the arrangement that existed between the government and industry. Hughes said recent information on technical aspects will be summarized in an upcoming edition of Environmental Science and Technology. Hughes said Monsanto would be willing to help compile information about the arrangement that existed in the partnership. Kovalick recommended speaking off-line with Mike Roulier.

PRB Action Team

Bob Puls provided an overview of the PRB Action Team's four major activities:

• Evaluating long-term performance. Puls said that EPA, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Energy (DOE) have received funding to evaluate long-term performance at six to eight PRB sites. He said the sites will have the same type of iron installed in the ground, but will differ in the amount of time they have been operational and in their hydrogeochemical properties. He said the evaluation is aimed to determine how long PRB walls can be expected to function, and whether there are warning signs that will alert investigators of diminishing reactivity and permeability. Puls said the sites for the evaluation have not been officially identified, but that likely possibilities include Lowry AFB, Moffett Field, Cape Canaveral, sites from Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL), a site in Kansas, Rocky Flats, the Elizabeth City site, the Denver Federal Center, and the Somersworth Landfill site. Puls said that the evaluation will take place over 3 years and that $1.5 million will be available per year. Puls said the RTDF will act as a coordinator and reviewer of the evaluation.
• Planning for a November 1998 Action team meeting. Puls noted that the Action Team will meet at ORNL on November 17­19, 1998. He said the meeting was purposely designed to have a distinct DOE flavor. On the first day of the meeting, Puls continued, some general talks will be presented by Jackie MacDonald (National Research Council), Skip Chamberlain (DOE headquarters) and Liyuan Liang. Puls noted that Liang will talk about efforts to establish an RTDF-like PRB group in Europe. Also on the first day, Puls noted, a panel discussion will be held to discuss long-term performance evaluations. Puls said that DOE presentations will dominate the second day of the meeting.
• Developing a training program. Puls said that TIO and ITRC have agreed to fund a training program to educate state and federal regulators on the application of PRB technologies. Puls noted that some RTDF members are involved with putting the training together and that the PRB Steering Committee will review the training's content. Puls said the training course will be about a day and a half in length and will be presented in all 10 EPA regions. Puls said training will be initiated in Spring 1999.
• Releasing a document. Puls noted that the PRB Technology for Contaminant Remediation document is scheduled for release on September 30, 1998. He said the document was jointly compiled by the Office of Research and Development, TIO, and the RTDF. He said the document has been reviewed by about 25 people as part of EPA's peer review process.

NEW SOFTWARE FOR TRACKING WEB SITE USAGE

Carolyn Perroni said that a new tracking system has been installed for the RTDF Web site. She said the system indicates how many users have contacted each individual team page. In addition, she said, the system also provides a breakdown of users' extensions (e.g., .com, .edu, .org, military, or international). Perroni asked participants to provide feedback when they get their new Web site usage reports. She said she'd like to know whether the new format is helpful and if there are other items the co-chairs feel they need. She said that the software is capable of creating more sophisticated reports and that these can be generated upon specific request.

Perroni noted that there has been a significant increase in RTDF Web page usage over the last month. While 500 to 700 hits are normally recorded per month, Perroni reported, as many as 3,000 were recorded over the last month. Perroni said the increase could have been due to the release of a PRB profile announcement and the RTDF Update.

ARTICLES FOR NEXT ISSUE OF RTDF UPDATE

Perroni said that she will be out of the office until October 13. She asked co-chairs to submit articles for the next edition of the RTDF Update no later than October 14, 1998. She said people in her office can help the co-chairs generate articles. If this type of assistance is needed, Perroni stressed, she must be notified immediately. Kovalick strongly encouraged the co-chairs to submit articles and reminded them that the RTDF Update has a wide circulation. (Kovalick said announcements are sent to 5,000 people via TIO's TechDirect.)

MISCELLANEOUS

Berti noted that CBS radio aired a short piece on phytoremediation of organics using poplars. The 3 to 5 minute segment, Berti continued, was presented by Charles Osgood and generally depicted phytoremedial technologies in a positive light. Berti said that Osgood likened poplars to straws that "sucked" contaminants from the ground. While Osgood praised the technology's cost savings and naturalness, Berti noted, Osgood also noted that concern has been expressed about contaminant release to the air.

Susan Brager Murphy noted that she will be leaving on maternity leave on October 23, 1998. She said that ERG will continue to provide its customary level of support while she is gone. Murphy said she will e-mail the Action Team co-chairs and Subgroup co-chairs information about how logistical support will continue during her absence.

NEXT CO-CHAIRS CONFERENCE CALL

The next co-chair conference call is tentatively scheduled for December 8, 1998, between 3:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

ACTION ITEMS

• Kovalick said TIO will try to re-establish contact with the Association of Ports and Harbors and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
• Kovalick said he will send Berti and Ryan abstracts from the Fourth International Symposium on Environmental Contamination in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Kovalick recommended that Hughes and Roulier talk off-line about developing a document that describes the arrangement that existed between the government and industry in the Lasagna™ Partnership.
• Conference call participants were asked to send Perroni feedback on the Web site usage reports.
• Conference call participants were asked to submit articles for the RTDF Update no later than Wednesday, October 14.
• Murphy said she will E-mail all Action Team co-chairs and Subgroup co-chairs information about how logistical support will be managed while she is on maternity leave.
• ERG will arrange for the next conference call to be on Tuesday, December 8, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. and will notify everyone when arrangements are made.